ANSA news

Germany: Schulz calls for electric car quotas in Europe

Fri, 11/08/2017 - 15:10

(ANSA) - TRIESTE - Chancellor Angela Merkel's main rival in
Germany's upcoming election is calling for a Europe-wide quota
for electric cars. The socialdemocrat Martin Schulz told the
Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper in an interview published
Friday that binding quotas would help support electric car
technology. Schulz didn't say how high the quota should be.
German carmakers have been the focus of a recent scandal
involving cheating on diesel emissions, prompting the government
to call auto bosses in for a crisis meeting last week.
Chancellor Angela Merkel replied to Schulz through her
spokesman, stating that it would not be appropriate to bind to
EU quotas. Merkel "welcomes" all the options that lead to the
development of electric car technology, but she considers that
Germany already has its ambitious goals in this area, the
spokesman said. The German government wants to put 1 million
electric cars on the roads by 2020.
The Center for Automotive Management estimates that 22,453
electric and hybrid vehicles were sold in Germany during the
first half of the year. (ANSA).

In brief

Founded in 1989, the CEI is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration through cooperation among its Member States.
It combines multilateral diplomacy and project management, both as donor and recipient, while bridging European macro-regions.